The Hidden Heart
by GuiltyIsTheGCEnding
Summary: 4 years later, Shu Ouma still grieves for his love, Inori. However, a mischievous act by his friend Tsugumi leads to more than what he expected, allowing him to rediscover all that he has buried and thrown. Shu x Ayase


**_My first ever FanFic - it probably sucks cos I'm a terrible writer and my creative levels are an amazing high of 0, so if you don't enjoy it, I'm truly sorry for wasting your time. If you do, that's great! All reviews and constructive criticism are welcomed :)_**

_

 **The Hidden Heart**

"Wakey wakey! No more snoozing for you, Shu!" Funil's alarm blared annoyingly into said person's ears.

With Funil programmed to repeat the same message with gradual volume increments until he detected that Shu had woken up, Shu knew he had no choice but to abandon his beauty sleep. At least, for now. He could always continue the session later on in the afternoon. After all, he was awfully free these days. Of course, the thought still didn't bring about any sense of comfort in him, and only served to make him even annoyed.

'That damn Tsugumi! She could've just made a simple snooze button, but noooooo, she had to make Funil's alarm system as high tech and anti-lazy proof as possible.' Shu could already visualise her impish grin as she classically stuck her tongue out at him.

As if detecting his annoyance, Funil whirled in delight and switched off his alarm, before playing a pre-recorded 'good morning' message to his master. This always served to bring a little smile onto Shu's face despite his blindness. Minus his stupid alarm system, Funil had been a wonderful companion all these years, always helping him with chores and trying to inject some positivity into his otherwise dull life. Ironically, Funil was still only a machine gifted to him by Tsugumi, but Shu was nonetheless still thankful for his presence.

All these thoughts buzzed through his mind as he sat up and stretched, letting out a long yawn, followed by a long sigh. He was still salty about his sleep situation.

"Funil, what's the schedule for today?"

Funil was the 'son' of Funell, but realistically was just another one of Tsugumi's creations. With Shu's blindness hampering his lifestyle, Tsugumi had equipped Funil with many features to assist Shu in his daily life. Although Shu had protested that he had already gotten use to his new lifestyle, Tsugumi and Ayase were adamant that he take Funil for extra precaution. "You can never be too sure in life," they had told him. And so he had no choice but to graciously accept their generous offer. Needless to say, the fear of a beating brought about by Ayase if he had continued to oppose played a part in the decision making progress.

"There is nothing that you have to do today, Shu. However there is an unread text message from Ayase that was sent at 3.14 am. Would Shu like Funil to read it?"

Shu was about to go have breakfast, but he frowned upon hearing what Funil said. 'A text in the wee hours? This is probably urgent.'

"Read it then."

"From Ayase: Hi Shu, sorry to disturb you so late in the morning, but would you like to have lunch with Tsugumi and I at the Café tomorrow? 1pm okay? See you there! End of message."

Shu was rather taken aback. It was somewhat unusual for somebody to text him that early in the morning just to invite him for lunch. It was especially unusual if that someone was Ayase. Regardless, Shu shook his head to clear his thoughts and commanded Funil to reply in the positive. There was no point wondering about things like that. Sure, it was a thing of wonder, but nothing serious enough to be thinking that hard about. Besides, there were more important priorities, like breakfast and... Inori. Yeah. Inori.

- **Ayase's POV** -

Ayase awoke to the smell of eggs being fried and the fragrance of freshly cooked rice and miso soup. She checked the time and with a shock, realized that it was already 8.30 am. It was very unlike her to wake up this late, and this displeased her. Frowning, she began to change out of her nightdress when she heard Tsugumi knocking at her door.

"Oi Aya-nee, you awake yet?" The blue-haired girl opened the door slightly and peeped through the crack. "You decent?"

Furious at the sudden intrusion of her privacy, Ayase grabbed a pillow and flung it at the door. "Get out! I'm almost done! You damn perv!"

"Ho ho our Aya-nee is so dirty~ breakfast is ready by the way!" Tsugumi's voice gradually grew softer as she returned to the kitchen.

Ayase ignored her and crawled into the wheelchair, and wheeled herself out into the kitchen. There was no point getting angry at Tsugumi; she was always teasing Ayase about many different things and she could not be stopped either. As Ayase munched on her breakfast, Tsugumi stared at her intently with a gleam in her eyes. Ayase grew uncomfortable – when Tsugumi got that look in her eyes, it usually meant that bad things were going to happen.

"Hey Ayase, you're free in the afternoon right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Brilliant! That's great! Amazing! My efforts didn't go to waste!"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Tsugumi?"

"Oh it's nothing~ I woke up early and hacked into your phone, and then invited Shu to have lunch with us two, but in reality, only you'll be going. He gladly accepted the offer by the way." Tsugumi whistled cheerfully as she finished her breakfast and began to clean up.

"WHAT? Why would you do that Tsugumi? Are you stupid?" Ayase yelled at her.

The blue-haired demon merely chuckled at her reaction. "Why do you sound so surprised? Aren't friends supposed to help each other?" She grinned conspiratorially.

"Wha-what do you mean?" Ayase could feel her face getting hot. She had come to an uncomfortable realization of what Tsugumi might be talking about.

Her fears were well founded as Tsugumi skipped over and placed her hand on Ayase's shoulder and proudly exclaimed.

"Hoho, no matter how hard you try to deny or hide your feelings, I know you like Shuuuuu – so take this as your first date! I'll dress you up prettily, ok Aya-nee? You can thank me later."

 **12.30pm**

Tsugumi was positively bubbling from the anticipation as she watched her friend make her way to the Café. She couldn't wait. Ayase however, was not feeling the same excitement coursing through the blood of her best friend. She was downright nervous. Her palms were sweaty and she kept checking her dress for creases. Even though she hated to admit it, Tsugumi had done a good job of dressing her up. She wore a plain and sleeveless blue dress that outlined her body curve, and her hair was brushed until it shone. According to Tsugumi, she was so stunning such that even blind Shu would be able to visualize her radiated beauty. Then again, Tsugumi was often full of bull, so there was no way of being completely sure. Ayase sighed. Today was definitely not her day. Not only was she forced by Tsugumi to admit her feelings for Shu, she was also forced (by Tsugumi, once again) to go on a date with him. No way was this going to be successful.

When Ayase entered the Café, she was wholly surprised to find that Shu was already there. It was still relatively early after all. She wheeled herself to the table he was at, noting that the brunette was absentmindedly stirring his coffee cup while staring into space, clearly deep in thought. Ayase's brows furrowed. Things were not off to a good start. He had barely noticed the girl approaching him when he normally would've.

Ayase cleared her throat awkwardly. "Hello Shu. You sure are early today." She said in a teasing tone.

If her arrival hadn't alerted him to her presence, this sure as hell did.

"Oh Ayase! Hi. Um sorry."

He jumped to his feet and hurried to pull her seat out for her, and pushed it back in when she had safely moved from her wheelchair to the seat. This made Ayase smile a little. He could be such a dork at times but was always so gentlemanly. It was one of his good points.

"Eh? Where's Tsugumi?" Shu was confused that he hadn't heard a single peep from the noisy girl.

"Ah, um... she um... She had work today so she can't make it. She sends her apologies." It took her all of her effort to not let the truth slip out.

A look of doubt crossed his face, but he chose not to pursue the matter. If he had noticed her earlier blunder, he had made no sign of it.

"Well, what brings you here so early then?"

"Why? Do you not appreciate my company, Shu? Or is Tsugumi much more attractive for you?" A pout was clearly evident in her voice.

Sensing that he had offended her somehow, Shu seriously said. "Of course not, Ayase. You light up my day with your radiance!"

Ayase was rendered speechless by his straightforwardness, and felt herself blushing. Thank god he couldn't see her in this state. It would be terribly difficult to explain why she was turning beet red.

An awkward silence ensued between the two of them. Ayase was simply too flustered to speak. Eventually, it became quite unbearable for Shu, who attempted to make small talk with the brunette in front of him.

"So... how have you been doing recently?"

Ayase laughed. "Silly Shu. You ask the same thing every time. I'm fine, thank you for asking." She said teasingly. "What about you?"

"I'm good too. Um, what would you like to eat?"

"I'm fine with anything. Go ahead and order anything you want. I'm treating."

Shu tried to protest, but Ayase promptly shut him up. "Just accept my generosity, Shu. You treat me most of the time, it's only right that I settle the bill today." Defeated, Shu placed his order, letting out a resigned sigh in the process. Even with his lack of sight, he could still feel her turn a frosty glare on him. He smiled in her direction, shrugging his shoulders helplessly.

Ayase on the other hand, felt her frosty demeanour being melted down by his warm, captivating smile.

'What wonderful smile he has, it makes me go warm and fuz - ' Ayase blinked. What was she thinking of? She pressed her cheeks and shook her head, feeling embarrassed of herself.

"Hey Ayase." Her moral dilemma was abruptly interrupted by Shu, whose voice had taken on a serious tone.

"Wha-what?" The brunette turned slightly nervous.

"Do you still miss him? Gai, I mean."

Ayase furrowed her eyebrows. She had not expected him to ask this question. Tsutsugami Gai... her first real love. Although it was mostly one sided on her part, Ayase could still remember how heartbroken she had been when Gai had died. Granted, he had come back as the enemy later on, and him dying again had not helped her feel any better, but by that time a certain someone had already healed her wounds and gave her hope in love again. Even if he was a complete moron and dense, his kindness had renewed a life inside her heart. She already knew what Shu was thinking about when he asked that question, and Ayase was determined to return the favour.

"To tell you the truth Shu, I still do miss him a little. But I've come to accept his passing and I've already moved on. Shu... you still miss Inori, don't you?"

Ayase saw his blind eyes wandering away, as if looking at something that she couldn't see. He let out a deep sigh and covered his face. "I don't know Ayase... I wake up everyday thinking that she'll still be there eating onigiri, but..." He let the sentence hang as he struggled to hold back the tears that desperately sought for freedom.

"Shu... It's been 4 years already. It's okay to miss her, but you can't let your grief consume you."

The brunette softened her voice. "I know it's not easy to get over her death, but nobody's asking for you to completely forget about her. You can still remember and honour her memory in your heart. Your grief is hurting you, Shu."

Ayase took Shu's hands and squeezed them gently. "Besides, you still have your friends and family here with you. Tsugumi, Haruka, Souta, Kanon and I; we are all here for you. I – I don't want to see you like this anymore, please."

"I'm sorry then, because you guys are wasting your efforts. There's no getting over Inori." Shu disengaged his hand and looked down on the table. "She was my everything, and yet I couldn't protect her. I'll never get over it no matter how hard you or anybody else try, Ayase. Don't waste your effort anymore, sorry."

The girl recoiled as if she had been struck. He sounded so defeated and bitter, so ready to give up on life. He had never acted like this before, and yet here he was doing the impossible for her to see. Ayase felt anger and frustration rising within her; she was sick and tired of his stubbornness and his stupidity and she was all too ready to snap at him. It was not the first time he had done this, and for Ayase, enough was enough. She felt her hand move forward automatically, slamming into the cheek of the brunette in front of her.

"You're not the Shu I used to know, you weakling of an imposter. How about getting some real balls and learning to accept reality, huh? There are people who want to help you, people who have been helping you all these years, and yet you can brush away all that they have done for you in just a sentence! Do you not know how they feel, Shu? In the end, you're just a weak, blind man who only knows how to grieve, with temporary good moments in between. That's who you really are, and that's all you'll ever be! You are a disgrace to Inori!" Ayase spat out coldly, before climbing into her wheelchair and wheeling herself out.

As she made her way out of the restaurant, the brunette silently cursed. She was furious at Shu, and at Tsugumi for organizing this failure of a 'date', but she was mostly furious at herself. Her lack of restraint had probably made Shu hate her forever too, ruining any chance of ever being with him. She growled in frustration. She hated her life. That damn accident took out her legs, and the person that gave her a second chance in life died not once, but twice, because she was useless and couldn't protect him. After that, she couldn't support the man she developed such strong feelings for when he was suffering.

'I really am a failure in life, huh.' She bitterly thought to herself. Everybody that she loved always suffered because of her incompetence. "Damn it!" Ayase slammed her fist onto the arm rest of the wheelchair. She seemed to be cursed to never have a partner in her life, and she detested it. Suddenly, the wheelchair crashed into something, causing her to be off balance, but she felt a pair of hands grip her shoulders before she could fall.

It was then did Ayase realise what had happened. Preoccupied with her thoughts, she had made a wrong turn on the way home, and now found herself in a dark alley surrounded by several men. Men who were undoubtedly thugs. She forcefully swiped off the hands that were still latched onto her.

"Get your hands off me." Ayase scorned, as she eyed the man in question balefully. Turning around, she tried to exit the alley, but instead found her way blocked by more thugs. She ground her teeth in frustration. She had no time to deal with stupid shit like this.

"Get out of the way, scums. Before I flatten you." The threat was made in a flat tone, but there was real menace behind it. However, it had zero effect on the thugs, who merely grinned.

"A feisty one, this girl!"

"What say we teach her a lesson, huh?"

The rest chorused in agreement, and began closing in on the brunette girl, who merely flicked open a switchblade in reply. She was not going down without a fight. That was what she thought, until a sudden pain flared at the back of her head, sending her to the ground and eliciting a cry of pain.

She tried to get up, but felt herself being pushed to the ground. Around her, the thugs laughed at her with mocking expressions. Some even jeered for her violation. Unfortunately, that idea seemed to be really popular among the thugs, and they began to clamour for spots in the virtual queue. Alarmed, Ayase tried to get up again, but another blow to the head effectively ended any further possible attempts of opposition from her. The first thug ripped his pants off and was about to slip her dress off, but stopped when a male voice shouted, "Get your hands off her, you filthy cow!" The next thing Ayase knew was that the thug that just tried to rape her had fallen onto the floor, shuddering as if he had been electrocuted. Which apparently, he had been. Right in his exposed crotch too. That made Ayase wince.

The rest of the thugs went livid and charged the brunette newcomer. A white robot rushed forward to his defence and shot out 2 electrified nets, bringing down three of the attackers. The rest were easily dispatched as Shu drew his cane sword and hammered them down easily. Blind or not, Shu had learnt to use his other senses to detect oncoming threats, and the thugs who were probably more accustomed to attacking defenceless people made so much noise that he could easily pinpoint their location.

The first rushed towards him with a punch, but Shu heard the swish of his arm and instinctively sidestepped, swinging the sword in a horizontal swipe, catching the attacker in the midriff. The second charged headlong at him, intending to tackle him, but the brunette thrust forward, hitting the thug's ribs with a satisfying crunch. A backhand stroke smacked straight into the head of the final attacker, knocking him out. Presumably, the crashing sound that followed was the sound of the thug hitting the floor.

Once he sensed that all the thugs were down and out, Shu rushed forward to Ayase and helped her to her knees, using his shoulder as support while Funil kept watch. He could hear Ayase still breathing, and he heaved a sigh of relief. At least she was alive.

Ayase, on the other hand, was still slightly confused. Things had happened so fast. She was about to get raped, but Shu had came just in time. How he defeated them so easily, she had no idea. All she knew that she was thankful for his presence.

"Are you okay?"

"Ye-yeah. Thanks to you." The brunette girl's heart was fluttering. It could've been the panic from the earlier situation, or it could have been the fact that she was so close to Shu. Or it could've been both factors combined. She didn't really mind either way. Shu was here, and that was all she cared about.

The two stayed together for a while, until eventually Shu spoke.

"Hey Ayase, I'm re–."

He was interrupted by Ayase who placed her finger on his lips, silencing him.

"Don't apologise. It's not your fault, only mine's. It was unreasonable for me to insult you like that and I went too far. I'm sorry." She hung her head in shame and overwhelmed by her emotions, she began sobbing.

Shu pressed the brunette's head into his shoulder gently as he felt his shirt turn wet from her tears. He stroked her hair gently, murmuring reassuring words.

"Don't worry, Ayase. I don't hold it against you. I was stupid to reject your companionship and help in the first place. That's why I even went after you, and thank god I did so. If not, who knows what might've happened to –"

He was abruptly prevented from speaking as he felt Ayase's lips meet his. He felt himself blushing in embarrassment as their two lips locked together for a full 5 seconds, before Ayase finally broke apart.

"Shu Ouma, I love you."

Ayase was completely surprised at her own brashness. She had no intention of confessing to him, but was suddenly driven to do so. She felt mortally embarrassed. There was no way she was coming back from this anymore, but strangely Ayase felt a lot calmer after her confession, as if a large load had been lifted off her chest. Maybe the stress of keeping her feelings for him secret had finally made her snap, leading to the sudden confession. Regardless, she knew what the harsh reality was: Shu was never going to accept her feelings, because Inori was still in his heart.

- **Shu's POV** -

Shu was completely bamboozled and flabbergasted. What had just happened. He couldn't see for nuts, but he visualized that Ayase was probably looking down and blushing till the roots of her hair due to her sudden confession. He had no idea that the brunette in his arm had felt this way about him. And yet... for some strange reason, he felt glad, as if a part of him was happy that she confessed. He hadn't felt this since Inori.

Shu felt really surprised at himself. Ayase had completely reopened his heart, and all this time he had failed to recognise it. Until now. He smiled to himself.

'The world really is full of surprises.'

Shu looked down at Ayase. He couldn't see her, but he could see in his mind, the beauty that was Ayase. He remembered every good memory she helped him create after Inori's death. They meant nothing to him at that time of their creation, but now he felt differently. Now he felt truly thankful for this wonderful brunette that had blessed his life for so long. It was a shame he didn't recognise it earlier, but at least he did now, and that was more than enough for him.

Shu let out a low chuckle. Surprised, Ayase looked up at him and saw him giving her a wan smile. Her eyes were red and sore from crying tears of rejection, so she was taken aback when she saw this sight. Then, the unthinkable happened.

Shu leaned in, and gave her a little peck on the cheek. In a comforting voice, he reassured her.

"Come on, let's get you out of here. Where's your wheelchair?"

Ayase's eyes, originally red, now shone and sparkled with a little hope. She couldn't help herself but let out a small giggle. He had finally done something that was such a 'Shu' thing to do. Something dorky and stupid, but yet so gentlemanly. Shu had finally gotten over his grief, and it pleased Ayase that she had played a part in helping him do so. She let out a smile and turned around to look at the wheelchair.

The sight elicited a dishevelled grunt from the brunette. The wheelchair had one wheel missing and the metal was bent at some places. The thugs must have attacked it while they were queuing to rape her.

She turned back to Shu and said apologetically. "The wheelchair is totally unusable. What now?"

Shu appeared to furrow his eyebrows and concentrate for a second, before a grin slowly spread across his face.

"Take my cane and be my eyes, Ayase. Let's go, Funil!"

"Wha-"

The brunette girl barely opened her mouth before she felt herself being scooped up by Shu. She yelped. This was unexpected, even by her standards. Ayase was now being piggybacked by Shu, and she could feel herself rapidly blushing.

"Shu! What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious? You'll help me see the road, and I'll piggyback you home, c'mon!" Ayase could hear the grin in his voice as he teased her.

- **Tsugumi's POV** -

Tsugumi was watching TV, scrolling through the channels lazily, when she heard a knock at the door. She groaned. She didn't want to leave the sofa. It was too comfy.

The person at the door seemed to disagree. The knocking got increasingly insistent, until it finally became a bashing of the door instead.

"Okay okay! I'm coming, you irritating prick! Can't you wait?"

When Tsugumi opened the door, she leaped back in surprise. Standing at the door was Shu, with Funil at his feet and Ayase on his back. Now this was a surprising sight.

"Finally!" Shu heaved a sigh of relief. "What took you so long?"

"Hoh? What have you two lovebirds been doing then?"

Aya-nee quickly opened her mouth to deny it, but Shu beat her to it. "Oh we were taking a walk." He said in a bored tone, as if it was no big deal.

Aya-nee slapped Shu's shoulder and glared at him. "No we weren't! My wheelchair broke, so he had to carry me back! That's all!"

Tsugumi raised her eyebrows at her best friend disbelievingly.

"I'm not lying!"

"Ok ok! Whatever you say, Aya-nee~" Tsugumi raised her hands in surrender, but couldn't prevent the mischievous grin from breaking out on her face. It was after all, kind of obviously what they had been doing. There was a touch of lipstick on a certain man's lips, after all.

- **Ayase's POV** -

Shu deposited the brunette girl onto the sofa while under careful guidance from Tsugumi. After that, he went back to the door and prepared to leave. Ayase called out to him.

"Hey Shu! Umm... thank you for today."

He gave her a cheeky smile and winked, tossing an object to her before leaving. He wasn't going to reveal his newfound feelings to her. Well, not yet at least. But soon.

Ayase caught the object and opened her palm. It was a piece of wood with a rather crude engraving of an Endlave on it. She looked more closely and realised that the mech was actually protecting something, or more specifically, someone. The sight of it touched her.

Her phone would later receive a text message from Shu, which said: _I can't make you my queen, and I'm sorry. But I want you to know that you mean so much to me, so thank you for all that you've done. You may ask, what's the wood for? All you need to know is that it's you. Even if the position of Queen is already taken, you still have a chance – to become my new Queen. You deserve that, at the very least. After all, a king always needs his Queen. Dinner next week?_

As Ayase read his message, her heart had began to beat faster from the joy that she was feeling inside. She barely understood half of his message, but it was okay. After all, he had asked her out on a date next week, and that was more than enough to make the brunette jump for joy. She silently blew a kiss to the phone.

"I love you, Shu."

"Hoh? Who are you blowing a kiss to? Could it be for Shu? Oh, by the way, that was a very well written love letter by him, I enjoyed reading it a lot. I think you did too, didn't you, Aya-nee?"

"Ehhhh?" Ayase felt her whole face turning red. Where had Tsugumi come from?

"You-you bitch! You were spying on me the whole time!"

Tsugumi raised her hands in a conciliatory gesture. "Whoa, don't go around accusing your best friend like that. I did nothing of that sort." She pouted. "It's not my fault that any message he sends is forwarded to me, right Aya-nee?" She threw a cheeky grin at the brunette girl who was turning incredibly red.

"Da-damn you Tsugumi! I'm going to kill you!"

_

 **A/N:** **If you made it all the way to the end, thank you for reading! In the encounter with the thugs, I mentioned that Shu used the cane sword. If you aren't sure what that is, it's basically just a hidden short sword that's disguised as a cane. I got the idea from AC Syndicate, where it's a weapon. I was planning on writing how he got it, but I couldn't fit it in, so I thought I'll just explain a little here. Shu made it himself with a little help from Tsugumi, and blunted all the sharp edges so that it'll only bruise and not kill.**

 **That's all, wishing everybody a good year ahead. Too doo!**


End file.
